guess

[ges]

See more synonyms for guess on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to arrive at or commit oneself to an opinion about (something) without having sufficient evidence to support the opinion fully: to guess a person's weight.
to estimate or conjecture about correctly: to guess what a word means.
to think, believe, or suppose: I guess I can get there in time.

verb (used without object)

to form an estimate or conjecture (often followed by at or about): We guessed at the weight of the package.
to estimate or conjecture correctly.

noun

an opinion that one reaches or to which one commits oneself on the basis of probability alone or in the absence of any evidence whatever.
the act of forming such an opinion: to take a guess at someone's weight.

Idioms

by guess and by gosh, Northern U.S. using a combination of guesswork and reliance on luck; hit or miss.Also by guess and by golly.

Origin of guess

1300–50; (v.) Middle English gessen, perhaps < Scandinavian; compare Swedish, Danish, Norwegian gissa, Middle Low German gissen, Middle Dutch gessen, Old Norse geta; (noun) Middle English gesse, derivative of the v. See get

Related formsguess·a·ble, adjectiveguess·er, nounguess·ing·ly, adverbpre·guess, noun, verbun·guess·a·ble, adjectiveun·guessed, adjective

Can be confusedguessed guest

Synonyms for guess

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com

1. hazard. 1, 2, 4. Guess, guess at, conjecture, surmise imply attempting to form an opinion as to the probable. To guess is to risk an opinion regarding something one does not know about, or, wholly or partly by chance, to arrive at the correct answer to a question: to guess the outcome of a game. Guess at implies more haphazard or random guessing: to guess at the solution of a crime. To conjecture is to make inferences in the absence of sufficient evidence to establish certainty: to conjecture the circumstances of the crime. Surmise implies making an intuitive conjecture that may or may not be correct: to surmise the motives that led to it. 3. fancy, imagine. 6. supposition.

Antonyms for guess

3. know.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for guessed

speculate, divine, calculate, predict, suggest, pretend, fathom, think, suppose, presume, solve, believe, infer, surmise, predicate, fancy, deduce, deem, select, hypothesize

Examples from the Web for guessed

Contemporary Examples of guessed

Therefore, we should—you guessed it—develop the Canadian tar sands and build the Keystone pipeline.
How Canadian Oilmen Pinkwash the Keystone Pipeline
Jay Michaelson
December 28, 2014
Alexander is everything Turing is not—gregarious, flirty, and, you guessed it, charming.
From ‘The Good Wife’ to ‘The Imitation Game’: Matthew Goode Wages His Charm Offensive
Kevin Fallon
November 24, 2014
Many New Yorkers at the time would have guessed the first development; few the second.
The Myth of the Central Park Five
Edward Conlon
October 19, 2014
At which point Bassam informs Jamal the rebel leader is willing to (you guessed it) talk.
Generic and Superficial ‘Tyrant’ Amerisplains the Middle East
Andrew Romano
June 25, 2014
He remembered a footbridge the other volunteers had guessed at.
Uncovering the Secrets of St. Kitts
Debra A. Klein
June 21, 2014

Historical Examples of guessed

If my mother could have guessed that he was to be set over me, I had never come here.
The Armourer's Prentices
Charlotte M. Yonge
He was calm of face, but she guessed an excitement beneath the surface.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
The sphinx did not slay herself until her riddle had been guessed.
The Hall of Fantasy (From "Mosses From An Old Manse")
Nathaniel Hawthorne
He had not guessed she was thus acutely sensitive concerning her plumpness.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
Here she is, coming of her own accord; she must have guessed your thoughts.
The Imaginary Invalid
Molire

British Dictionary definitions for guessed

guess

verb (when tr, may take a clause as object)

(when intr, often foll by at or about) to form or express an uncertain estimate or conclusion (about something), based on insufficient informationguess what we're having for dinner
to arrive at a correct estimate of (something) by guessinghe guessed my age
informal, mainly US and Canadian to believe, think, or suppose (something)I guess I'll go now
keep a person guessing to let a person remain in a state of uncertainty

noun

an estimate or conclusion arrived at by guessinga bad guess
the act of guessing
anyone's guess something difficult to predict

Derived Formsguessable, adjectiveguesser, nounguessingly, adverb

Word Origin for guess

C13: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Swedish gissa, Old Danish gitse, Middle Dutch gissen; see get

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for guessed

guess

c.1300, gessen "to estimate, appraise," originally "take aim," probably from Scandinavian (cf. Middle Danish gitse, getze "to guess," Old Norse geta "guess, get"), possibly influenced by Middle Dutch gessen, Middle Low German gissen "to guess," all from Proto-Germanic *getiskanan "to get" (see get). Sense evolution is from "to get," to "to take aim at," to "to estimate." Meaning "to hit upon the right answer" is from 1540s. U.S. sense of "calculate, recon" is true to the oldest English meaning. Spelling with gu- is late 16c., sometimes attributed to Caxton and his early experience as a printer in Bruges. Related: Guessed; guessing. Guessing game attested from 1650s.

guess

c.1300, from guess (v.). Verbal shrug phrase your guess is as good as mine attested from 1902.

Idioms and Phrases with guessed

guess

see anyone's guess; educated guess; have another guess coming; your guess is as good as mine.